Cancer is a significant health problem throughout the world. Although advances have been made in its detection and therapy, current methods for the prevention and treatment are less than optimal. The course of treatment for particular types of cancer is often selected based on a variety of prognostic parameters, including an analysis of specific tumor markers. However, it remains difficult to evaluate pre-neoplastic and peri-neoplastic cells as well as the metastatic potential of a cancer. The high mortality observed in cancer patients indicates that improvements are needed in the diagnosis and management of the disease.
Particularly, in the case of certain tumor types, such as adenocarcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas, the improper activation of signaling cascade involving the β-catenin gene (CTNNB1) is an event in the neoplastic transformation and progression of some cells. However, for many of these CTNNB1 related cancers, there is no reliable method of early detection, diagnosis, prognosis, or treatment.
Current methods for early detection, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of CTNNB1 related cancers fail to satisfactorily reduce the morbidity associated with these diseases. There is a need in the art for reliable, accurate, and safe methods for early detection, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of CTNNB1 related diseases.